Basic Italian

Are you an absolute beginner in Italian language?
Do you want to enjoy Italian and learn some verbs and nouns?

Before learning “The Basic Italian” remember 3 important rules: 1) daily practice is very important! 2) Do not worry about making mistakes!  😉 3) Be confident because more you use Italian the better your Italian will become!

Do not forget:  my online lessons are aimed at everyone so everyone could enjoy this funny song (advanced Italian language level too)

Now let’s listen to this Italian song: sing along with it to learn how to pronounce Italian!

The verbs are:
Dormire
Salutare
Camminare
Nuotare
Sciare
Baciare

The nouns are:
Autostop
Starnuto
Spray
Macho
Clacson
Campana
Ok
Capelli
Saluti
Superman

or

some hints to learn Italian pronunciation

Why when I try to speak Italian, Italian people can’t understand me?

You need some help, so today I give you some quick hints to learn Italian pronunciation.

First of all in Italian we pronounce the most of the letter exactly because Italian is a phonetic language, which means that it is spoken the way it is written 😉

Italian and English share the Latin alphabet, but the sounds represented by the letters often are very different in the two languages.

All Italian vowels have a clear and defined sound, and when two or three vowels meet, they maintain their distinct sound, like in “ciao“ or “aiuto (=help)”: they are never slurred.

In addition to this, remember: Italian words end in a vowel and you must pronounce them according to the International Phonetic Alphabet!

Moreover, in Italian all consonants except “h” can be doubled. Double consonants are pronounced much more strongly than single consonants.

Some very important difference:

“C” is pronounced /t∫ / when it comes before “i” and “e” but /k/ when it comes before “a”; “o”; “u”

So, “C” before “a”, “o”, “u” and before consonants has a sound similar to the English k (-> Caffè; Coca cola; cuore; crema), but “C” before “e” and “i” has a sound similar to the English ch as in church instead (-> Ciao; cena).

“H ” is very important after “c” and “g”, but is silent at the begin of a word instead.

“G” is pronounced /dʒ / when it comes before “i” and “e” (-> Gelato; Germania; giorno), but /g/ when it comes before “a”; “o”; “u” (-> gatto; golf; gusto)

So “G” before “a”, “o”, and “u” and before consonants has a sound like the g in good; but before “e” and “i” has a sound like the g in general.

“Gli”  is like lj or ll in million and

“Gn” is like the ny in canyon so,  I like “gli gnocchi”

“R” is very different from the English r; it is always pronounced with one flip of the tongue against the gums of the upper teeth (the alveolar ridge): this is the famous Italian trilled r with vibrations.

Now listen to the Italian songs on this page [go]:   enjoy these songs with karaoke 😉

Remember: listen to and sing Italian songs  in this way you can develop your listening and comprehension skills!

Italian present tense and songs

If you are in Rome and you need one to one lessons with an experienced Italian language teacher email me! Only during one on one lessons you have the special opportunity for intensive practice. If you can speak for most of the lesson, you will make progress faster 🙂

As you know, Italian songs are very useful to improve your Italian listening and pronunciation skills. In the page “Italian classes” you can find some links. I selected a few songs and so while you learn Italian, you could have a good time listening to Italian songs.

Yesterday I posted two more links on prensent tense: it’s the same old song (“E penso a te“), sung by two different singers. Listen to them!  🙂

To see it you have to click on guarda su YouTube:

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A new text with Italian passato prossimo

Italian “Passato prossimo” is one of the tense of the past that we use when we talk about actions, events and facts which happened in the past. Learn more on Italian classes …

fontana di Trevi

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I wrote a text about movies and Rome where I used the Italian passato prossimo.

[Ho inserito una piccola scheda su Roma e il cinema e ho scelto di usare il passato prossimo per rendere più facile a tutti -anche a chi studia italiano da poco tempo- questa lettura, ma per gli studenti che hanno un livello B2 l’esercizio consiste nel trasformare il “passato prossimo” in “passato remoto”]
But, if you prefer to listen to a song, see here (Vasco) or here (Jovanotti/Lorenzo)

Improve your Italian with fun

An Italian song to improve your Italian listening and pronunciation skills:

Click on the youtube link:

The grammar you can see here is the Italian present continuous + simple present tense and second conditional (= Italian periodo ipotetico di secondo tipo)

After watching this video do the exercise to improve your skills [click here]

Italian preposition: A

elementary level – Italian language tips by Monica Corrias

The Italian preposition “A” (= to): some Italian’s uses (not all)
Space/Place: indicates direction or position. The place where I am or where I’m going to (look at this page and learn the place preposition):

Vado/sto andando A Roma =I am going to Rome;  Sono A Roma = I am in Rome; Sono A casa = I am at home; Vado/Sto andando A casa = I am going home; Vado/sto andando AL (A+IL = AL) bar = I am going to the bar;

Destination: introduces an indirect object of the verb:

Dai questa foto AI (A+I = AI) miei genitori = Give this photo to my parents; Scriverò un’email A mio fratello = I’ll write an email to my brother;

Time: in some tome expressions, it indicates a moment:
ALLE cinque = At five o’clock;  A mezzanotte = at midnight;  A Natale = at Christmas;  A dopo =  see you later

In combination with some verbs: to begin to; to try to
Questa sera comincio A studiare italiano = I’m beginning to learn Italian this evening ; Sto provando A studiare, ma non ci riesco = I’m trying to study but I can’t

Click and have a look at the “A” preposition + definite articles

Click and do the exercise 🙂

Click and learn some improper prepositions 😉

If you need Italian instruction,  email me!

I’m an experienced Italian language teacher.

Italian survival vademecum

Ciao!   Last week David wrote me: “I am travelling to Italy this summer with my family. How does your “blog” help me with basic touristic Italian? Pronunciation?”

If you need just a phrasebook and a piece of information, you will be better to read the blog “Phrasebook“. Here I wrote some useful sentences and I posted information about basic Italian.

I usually teach at school, so I prefer to explain students grammar rules and then to practise with them grammar information in a natural context, but I can also teach in different situations.  Sometimes I help tourists  to learn the basic Italian to order something to eat or something to drink or else; now I can also teach by Skype. Therefore, if you need an experienced Italian language teacher or if you want a tutor,  e-mail me! I am accustomed to teach Italian at every language level!

How can I say good luck in Italian?

As you probably know, in Italian the traditional way to say “good luck” is not  only “Buona fortuna” (literally = good luck), but rather “In bocca al lupo!” –> similar to English “Break a legs!”

When someone says that to you, there is a traditional very important reply that you are expected to give: “Crepi!” or “Crepi il lupo!”

Today I would like to say “In bocca al lupo!”  to the students that are visiting Italy for them first time and that  should speak Italian. 

First of all I suggest learning Italian on the page “Italian classes”, but the most important hint is to try to get to know Italian people!  Remember that the purpose is to communicate, not just to do some academic exercises and you need to have conversation in Italian: the main focus is “to practise“!

I wrote some expressions – but only in Italian 😦  –  to accept an invitation or to refuse an invitation.

And remember the proverb:   Chi trova un amico, trova un tesoro!  =  Whoever finds a friend finds a treasure!

you can vote for this blog on
  

Thank you very much 🙂 and say me “in bocca al lupo!”

Italian pronunciation and karaoke

Ciao!  How do you pronunce Italian language?

I inserted a new page (“Italian songs“) to help you to pronounce Italian language. Enjoy it!

Ciao!

Ho aggiunto una nuova pagina (“Italian songs“) per aiutarvi a pronunciare l’italiano cantando.  Buon divertimento!

Italian indefinite articles

Ciao a tutti! Oggi è mercoledì e sono le sei =Today is Wednesday and it is 6:00 p.m.

It is a gorgeous day here in Rome, with bright sunshine and warm temperature. How are you today? Are you full of energy for your Italian lesson? I hope so.

Do you know Italian indefinite articles? They are very important to order a drink or something to eat, therefore I suggest learning them as soon as possible if you don’t want to run the risk to starve. 😉